A Tightrope Between Matheson and Walking Dead

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2007)

After waking up from a coma, a man named Jim (Cillian Murphy) discovers that the entire city of London and maybe the world has been taken over by a virus that causes people to go into a rage. Now, he is left with only two things to do: find others like himself and learn to survive.
This film can be seen as a tightrope connecting "I Am Legend" (any version you want) and "The Walking Dead". Like the former, you have one man alone against a world of post-human monsters in an evacuated large city. He is looking for a cure, or at least a way to survive, and he finds a female companion to share the journey. The differences between the films are relatively minor in the context of the overall plot.
And then we have the latter. While the "Walking Dead" comic or television series could be compared to any zombie apocalypse film, it again features one man alone in a big city (Rick in Atlanta as opposed to Jim in London). Most notably, both start in a hospital. Major West could also be compared to the Governor. This may be a coincidence, or it may be an homage -- according to Robert Kirkman, he had the comic plotted out before he had seen this film.
We are given this horrific vision by director Danny Boyle (best known at this point for "Trainspotting" before getting even bigger with "Slumdog Millionaire"), and he does a fine job. By saying this film takes elements from predecessors, it may sound like I am being condescending or trying to sell the film short. I am not. Boyle does a wonderful job of showing a desolate city, a man isolated in London (the last place he would expect to be alone) and people infected with the rage virus. Much of horror cinema is not so much being original (a very, very rare thing these days) but taking a well-trod archetype and making it your own.
One brave decision that was made was the casting of no-name actors, or at least no actors that stand out for Americans (this is before the "Doctor Who" franchise took off in the States). Any name actor (such as, say, Leonardo DiCaprio as was rumored) would distract from the grand vision, I feel. It shifts the focus from the story of all humanity to the story of one man. Interestingly, Cillian Murphy has since become a huge star in his own right -- watching the film now (2013) is different than when it first came out because of this.
The heart of the film is Brendan Gleeson, who plays Frank. It takes it from a horror or survival film to a story of the goodness of humanity. The saying that sometimes the worst brings out the best in people is exemplified in Frank. His good nature and altruism shine and have a positive effect on those around him.
Many consider this a "zombie" film, while others try to differentiate it from that group (Boyle himself has called it a zombie film). I think there is a distinct difference between a virus that affects the living and the walking dead (even when the walking dead are brought back by a virus). This is, really, just a tale of survival that could have been portrayed similarly as rabies or AIDS. This is another way the film is influential; hundreds of zombie films have come out over the past decade (most of which are terrible), but the rise of the "infection" film owes its genesis to "28 Days Later".
The only real complaint is the suspension of disbelief we have to have about Jim's beginnings. Waking up from a coma that he was in for at least three weeks, he is able to run easily without muscle atrophy or fatigue. He also survived in a hospital where no one else did. And most amazing of all, he seems to have not urinated or defecated in the bed. But all horror and science fiction films require a little bit of magic, so I think we can mark this off as being in that category.
The film is heavy on the survival aspects, moderate on the action, moderate on the gore by "zombie" standards. And very light on the romance, which I am pleased about (that is one advantage it has over "Omega Man"). The film is all about trying to make it out alive, and that is something I can see more of -- "survival horror". While I would not recommend seeing this until after seeing "Omega Man" and "Last Man on Earth" just to put it in perspective, this is a very good addition to the line of films coming out with these themes.